Alcañiz. After a disappointing Saturday at MotorLand Aragón (ESP), BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team worked hard overnight which saw them make some improvements. Despite the difficult starting position in Sunday’s race, this progress enabled them to finish in the points. Tom Sykes (GBR) crossed the finish line in 12th, his team-mate Eugene Laverty (IRL) finished in 14th.
Sykes and Laverty started the Superpole Race on Sunday morning from 14th and 18th on the grid. Sykes moved up into 11th place right at the start but was pushed aside in the turmoil entering Turn 8 and was forced to swerve through the gravel. Unfortunately, he collided with Leandro Mercado (ARG) as he returned to the track, who fell and unfortunately injured himself. Sykes finished the Superpole Race in 15th place, with Laverty right behind him in 16th. In the second main race on Sunday afternoon, the two riders finished in the points after starting near the back of the grid, Sykes in P12 and Laverty in P14.
This coming weekend sees BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team in action again at the same track, with part two of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) double header at MotorLand Aragón.
Quotes after race two at MotorLand Aragón.
Shaun Muir, Team Principal BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “After yesterday’s disappointments the guys worked really hard overnight and I have to thank the whole team for that. The guys went out this morning in warm up and put in a solid session. The Superpole Race was always going to be a problem from that far back, we have not got a lot to fight with on the long straights as we know, and that carried into the race. I think Eugene did well to consolidate some results as his confidence was low after the issue yesterday, so I have to applaud him for his efforts. He buckled down and he can sleep on that and come back stronger next week. With Tom starting from so far back he was getting mixed up with guys that are stronger in other areas than him. I think when Tom had the clear track, and a gap, he could reel off those low 1’51 lap times. As soon as he got in the company of everyone else, he was in a battle with nothing to fight with so it was quite predictable where he would end up. He could maybe have squeezed into the top 10 but we just wanted to consolidate these results and concentrate on the race here next week.”
Tom Sykes: “It was a shame in the Superpole Race. Chaz Davies made a miscalculation in one corner which pushed me out wide and left me nowhere to go. This is a shame as Tati Mercado got injured in the aftermath which is something you never want to see. Race two was frustrating, we had certainly had the pace to get away from the guys, but we had those limitations on the straights which undid all the hard work we did in the corners catching them up.”
Eugene Laverty: “The weekend as a whole has been so tough, which I didn’t see coming. Starting down the grid made it difficult, but we just didn’t have the pace. However, finally today we found what we needed so we were able to make progress with the bike in the final race two. So that at least gives us some direction for next week in Aragón, but we have lost an entire weekend.”
